Gracey vs Giraud trimmer

[savageshooter86]

Either one better than the other?

 

[22DASHER]

I have only used the giraud trimmer and I think it would be very tough to beat. It is unbelievable!!

 

[chkunz]

I have both. They both have their plusses and minuses as compared to each other, starting with price. Either one is much better than anything else I have tried. One thing to consider is how much brass do you trim a year? If the answer is 1000 or less then the Wilson is a good choice. If the answer is several thousand then the Gracey or Giraud will get the job done. If you are dealing with more than one caliber then that is a significant consideration.

 

[Joe R]

I have a Gracey Neck Shaver and a Giraud Trimmer.

Gary Giraud (GG) has done a good job on improving and updating the trimmer. But check out Erik Cortina's YouTube channel, he has found a way to improve the Giraud trimmer. GG also sells an upgrade kit for a Gracey trimmer. For a first time buyer I would recommend the Giraud trimmer. I believe the only thing that the Giraud and Gracey trimmers have in common is the motor.

I really wish that GG would do the same thing that he did for the trimmer to the neck shavers. That would be something that would capture my $$$.

 

[Danattherock]

I only know them by reputation, which is fantastic. What I would like to know is regarding versatility. For example, is one of the trimmers capable of trimming 223, 308, and 50 BMG? Are additional parts needed and if so roughly what does each caliper specific set up cost? I could justify buying one of these if it worked across a broad range of calibers, 223, 260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 50 BMG primarily.


Dan

 

[waldo1979]

Gracy invented the design and Giraud adapted it. The Gracey uses an older style of bearing which requires lubrication and from what I hear can get messy. I asked him once why and he said he believes they're more accurate. In my experience Japanese made sealed bearings are plenty accurate, giving me sub-0.001" runout on my heavy machinery.

The competitive hand load book has a whole side blurb about the morale ethicality of Giraud taking Gracey's design. He advocates the Gracey given its proven track record.

Since I did't want to outlay the $$ I ended up with some Giraud Triway trimmers which replaced my forster (man I hate that thing). The Triways are extremely accurate and well worth the price.

FART also makes a trim station that references off the shoulder but doesn't chamfer in 1 operation. But it's significantly cheaper. Not sure about accuracy.

I hate to say it but If I had the money I would buy a Giraud.

 

[Joe R]

Danattherock said:

What I would like to know is regarding versatility. For example, is one of the trimmers capable of trimming 223, 308, and 50 BMG? Are additional parts needed and if so roughly what does each caliper specific set up cost? I could justify buying one of these if it worked across a broad range of calibers, 223, 260 Rem, 6.5 Creedmoor, and 50 BMG primarily.

Hi Dan,
I use the Giraud and switch between 308 and 243 trimming. Adjusting the cutter is very straight forward and changing the shell holder is even easier. If you go to Giraud's website there is a list of all the calibers it supports. I don't think the 50 BMG was one of them, but I could be wrong.

Kindest regards,

Joe

 

[people]

Giraud all the way and you can do 50 with them. I still have my parts from when I had a 50.

 

[chkunz]

One thing to consider is the difficulty in adjustment. When I first bought the Gracey in the early 1990s I used it a lot and the blades became dull and I bought replacement blades but had a difficult time adjusting them. I took the Gracey trimmer with me to Camp Perry and hunted up Doyle Gracey on commercial row and asked him to show me how to adjust the blades. He made it look easy but I never could do it well myself. I later bought a blade that did the trim, bell and chamfer all with the one blade and that worked well and was easy to adjust. The replacement blade was carbide and has trimmed many thousands of cases and still cuts ok. BTW I had Doyle autograph the trimmer on the wood base.

I recently adjusted the Giraud for trim length and I was able to follow the instructions and the adjustment was simple. If I should decided to use it for a second caliber I will probably buy a complete trimmer assembly. All this runs into serious bucks and I would not have been able to afford it while raising a family.

 

[ChristCross]

I when with a Gracey due to price and never look back 10 yrs ago. But the blade suck on it. Just got the Giraud blade for the Gracey what a differance. I have so far about 15000 case done on it and still going strong. If you get the Gracey upgrade the cutting blade.

 

[Duster_360]

I have both trimmers and agree the Gracey was and probably still is more difficult to get setup and get cutting optimally. As a HP shooter, mine has trimmed thousands of cases. Later, when I started shooting 223 XTC, I bought just another "business end" part of the trimmer and set that up for 223. I can switch between the two in a few minutes. In my experience, my Gracey has never been "messy" as long as you have the shield and use it. A few drops of oil occasionally and its always been a piece of trouble free equipment which is impressive having been bought in early '94. Certainly have gotten my moneys worth from it and then some.


Haven't really formed much of an opinion on the Giraud yet - it's an obvious quality made piece of equipment though.

 

[hpshooter]

My Gracey was purchased in the early 90's and has trimmed a lot of '06, .308 and .223 cases for high power along with 2500 .222 cases for groundhogs.

Sometime in the late 90's I picked up one of the Giraud carbide blades for it that cut the length and chamfers the ID and OD. which was a great move.

I lube mine with a couple drops of ATF or way oil and have not had any problem with a mess, just wipe the inside of the cover off after each trim session. ( A lot of messes from "lubrication "come from grossly overlubing IMHO.) Works best for me to trim in large lots say 500 or so between caliber changes.

A reference prick punch mark on the outboard side of the cartridge adapter holding block and a depth mic measurement from the face of the cartridge adapter holding block to the punch mark give a repeatable initial adjustment setting which can be fine tuned once you get the cutter blade set to the proper cutting radius, (can be tedious if you try to rush it)

I like the Gracey but have never used a Giraud so I cannot offer a comparison.

Best regards,
T W Hudson

 

[aloreman]

i have a gracey set up in 22 and one in 30 and will be buying one for 6mm. Iuse bob jones carbide cutters. i buy mine without a motor then put a 3300 rpm 10th hp on them wired to a switch. coudnt justify the money for the first one but now what woud i do without them

 

[padom]

I have Giraud Tri Ways in .223, .260 Remington and .308 and I came from the WFT trimmers. Wow, what a difference. So much less effort and the final finish is a billion times better. I did find that you need high RPMs with the Giraud to get it to cut properly. I have my connected to a 1/4 HP 3450rpm electric motor via a custom coupler I had my smith mill for me.

 

[swehrman]

I have a Gracey Neck Shaver and a Giraud Trimmer.

Gary Giraud (GG) has done a good job on improving and updating the trimmer. But check out Erik Cortina's YouTube channel, he has found a way to improve the Giraud trimmer. GG also sells an upgrade kit for a Gracey trimmer. For a first time buyer I would recommend the Giraud trimmer. I believe the only thing that the Giraud and Gracey trimmers have in common is the motor.

I really wish that GG would do the same thing that he did for the trimmer to the neck shavers. That would be something that would capture my $$$.

His name is Doug, not Gary.

-- Scott

 

[Mark Walker in TX]

I have owned both a Gracey and Giraud. Actually I owed the Gracey pictured on Doug's site, yes it is Doug, http://giraudtool.com/motorupgrade.htm, that Gracey having been upgraded by Doug.

While both trimmers can be set to trim very accurately, with all due respect to Mr. Gracey, there is no comparison in ease of use with the Giraud winning hands down. Specifically the blades, the conversion between cases, and the option to convert to a meplat trimmer.

The locking ring use on the Giraud trimmer has been around since day one of the trimmers, no offense to Erik but it's nothing new. Nice trick IF your using the same lot of brass. When going from lot to lot of even Lapua, it needs reset. Same goes for meplat trimming, it must be reset.

 

[IA_shooter]

Does the Tri Way Trimmer have a spring loaded part to it like the bigger bench unit does? I wonder about the little bit of "slop" that might be in it vs. what Erik Cortina did with his bench unit and had a custom one made with his actual chamber reamer that took care of that problem.

 

[Erik Cortina]

I have owned both a Gracey and Giraud. Actually I owed the Gracey pictured on Doug's site, yes it is Doug, http://giraudtool.com/motorupgrade.htm, that Gracey having been upgraded by Doug.

While both trimmers can be set to trim very accurately, with all due respect to Mr. Gracey, there is no comparison in ease of use with the Giraud winning hands down. Specifically the blades, the conversion between cases, and the option to convert to a meplat trimmer.

The locking ring use on the Giraud trimmer has been around since day one of the trimmers, no offense to Erik but it's nothing new. Nice trick IF your using the same lot of brass. When going from lot to lot of even Lapua, it needs reset. Same goes for meplat trimming, it must be reset.

No offense taken Mark as I know the lock ring mod has been around for a log time. As far as needing to re-adjust the cutting depth, I use die shims for that as it makes it fast and accurate to change cutting depths. I only adjust for bullet trimming, never had to re-adjust for brass trimming.